The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

chris_m

Cakeguts wrote: »

because I don't regard grade exams as the most important aspect for enjoying playing music

I'll never forget my piano teacher's face when, my having just passed Grade 5, she turned up the next week with the Grade 6 stuff and I said I didn't want to do it.

When she asked why I said that I didn't like the choices of music and, lifting the lid of the piano seat to reveal several old (100 years or so) compendiums of music, I'd rather have a go at some of these just for the pleasure of it. she didn't like it, but she wasn't given any choice if she wanted to continue getting her money

There were two volumes of Beethoven Sonatas for a start, although I only ever really got close to mastering Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2 (The Moonlight Sonata), still IMO a lovely piece.

Mind you, she didn't like the way I played that either - mainly because I tried to do it "with feeling" so I kept varying the tempo according to how I felt it should sound rather than sticking to her darned metronome

I could probably have a crack at it again (albeit after a lot of practice, and digging out my keyboard), which is more than I can say for the violin which I also used to be able to play, to Grade 4 I think. I preferred the piano, though. Provided the tuner had sorted it OK I stood a half-decent chance of getting the right notes

GDB2222

We went for a couple of long walks today around Bruges. It's certainly a fairytale city, but remarkably dull to walk around. It is so flat!

In the afternoon, I checked the weather forecast and left my rain jacket behind. T shirt and shorts. The rain got steadily stronger. I got utterly drenched, and this was a few miles from the hotel. So, there I was in my clinging wet T Shirt, love handles outlined rather more than I hoped, and suddenly hundreds of extremely fit young people were walking towards me. These were the competitors in the Triathlon event which was just about to start. I did not blend in!

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Can't have a locked thread where you're slagging off somebody who might later discover your identity and find it and realise you were talking about them and as/if it's locked you can't delete!!

I am always acutely aware that anyone who knows me IRL would easily recognise me on here - my story is somewhat distinctive. So I try never to post anything that would be a significant problem if it was read by somebody that had worked out who I am. A few years ago I wanted to post some stuff on some of the MSE boards where they actually talk about moneysaving, and wanted to put more detail of my financial circumstances than I'd be comfortable putting in the public arena to be read by people who've identified me, so I made another ID and used it for that, but when I was posting under that ID I was scrupulously careful not to post anything that could identify me.

chris_m wrote: »

I'll never forget my piano teacher's face when, my having just passed Grade 5, she turned up the next week with the Grade 6 stuff and I said I didn't want to do it.

When she asked why I said that I didn't like the choices of music and, lifting the lid of the piano seat to reveal several old (100 years or so) compendiums of music, I'd rather have a go at some of these just for the pleasure of it. she didn't like it, but she wasn't given any choice if she wanted to continue getting her money

My piano teacher's attitude was quite different. I too said I wanted to give up doing exams after grade 5. My dad told my piano teacher he wanted me to keep going to the lessons, with no obligation to do any practice at home, and he wanted her to make me practise sight-reading during my lessons. He said he thought sight-reading was the most useful skill to have on the piano.

Now, my piano teacher had two pianos in the room where she taught. A friend of hers, who was another much older piano teacher, had recently moved into a sheltered flat and had had to give up her second piano. She had therefore given my teacher her stack of duets for two pianos. So we sight-read our way through the stack every Tuesday for the next 3 years until I left school and went away to uni. It was enormous fun, and no pressure at all, unlike preparing for exams. I think my teacher enjoyed it as much as I did.

The one piece we actually learnt was Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" (arranged for two pianos, natch). We used to do it at normal speed at the beginning of the lesson by way of a warm up, and very very fast just for fun at the end. Usually when we did it fast I didn't manage much of the left hand, but with both her hands and my right, we didn't do too badly. Of course, when the other person's at another piano facing away from you, you just have to keep going whether you miss bits out or not - there's no pausing to find the right note.

LydiaJ

WARNING - LONG POST. Only read if you are interested in my difficulties with decorating my house.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the decision making involved in attempting to redecorate my house. Today DD and I finally got round to painting patches on the walls from the match pots we bought weeks ago.

In the living room I have 4 different shades that are all quite similar - ranging from cream to pale yellow, and I think I have chosen one. For the feature chimney breast I have patches of 4 reds, and I think I know which one I want but it's not quite dry yet and unlike the others I haven't seen it in daylight because we only bought it today after deciding the other 3 reds weren't quite what I wanted. So far so good.

In the dining room it gets harder. The stairs are in the dining room so I need a single paint colour for the dining room itself and up over the stairs and onto the landing above. As of this evening, I now have 7 different colours each painted in 3 different locations because the light levels are so variable. I have eliminated both the yellows (too warm for how I want it to be) and 2 of the blues (darker than it looks on the pot or the card) and shortlisted it to 2, or maybe 3. I am stuck on whether to go for the very pale blue or the very pale green. The seats of the dining chairs are upholstered in blue, and the curtains are blue, although I could of course get new ones, and I am not at all sure whether to go for blue and risk being too overwhelmingly monochrome, or to go for green and risk clashing. Or I could stick with the creamy colour that is on the walls at the moment, and just refresh it because it's very tired and grubby. That feels boring ATM, though. And all the time I know that once I've decided about paint I'm going to have to face the whole decision process again only about flooring.

The bottom line is that I wish I wasn't making all these decisions alone. Well, not entirely alone because DD is as involved as I'll let her be, but her ideas about colour choices are, err, well, the sort of early teenage overdramatic enthusiasm that I got over years ago, if I ever had it to the extent that she does, which I don't think I did. For example, for her own bedroom she is thinking of metallic silver swirls on a dark background, with a contrasting strongly coloured ceiling. Or something like that - I can't remember all the details. She's being very good about trying to help me choose sensible grown up colours for the common areas of the house, and is in fact a great help and encouragement, but she isn't, and can't be, and shouldn't be, an entirely satisfactory substitute for being part of a couple.

Sorry. I'm whining. I'll stop. You'd have thought I'd be used to being single by now, wouldn't you? It's been 12 years. I'll try to get a grip.

In other news, DS is due to change his name tomorrow.

SingleSue

I still struggle too, right now I am lamenting the fact I am single and solely responsible for getting offspring home from uni with all their clobber.

James solved his run for me, him and his new housemates hired a van and moved all his stuff to his new house today but getting Josh home in this coming week and then both him and Joe to uni in September is giving me a headache.

antrobus

chris_m wrote: »

I'll never forget my piano teacher's face when, my having just passed Grade 5, she turned up the next week with the Grade 6 stuff and I said I didn't want to do it...

I deliberately failed Grade 2 so I could get out of flippin piano lessons.

But then, my idea of good music is 'Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell' rather than some darned sonata.:)

chris_m

antrobus wrote: »

I deliberately failed Grade 2 so I could get out of flippin piano lessons.

I didn't mind the lessons, just the relentless working towards the next grade.

But then, my idea of good music is 'Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell' rather than some darned sonata.:)

Hehe, my music taste is extremely wide - varying from, say, Beethoven Sonatas and Symphonies via anything by Johnny Cash right the way through to Motorhead's Ace of Spades, the latter played nice and loud of course

Pyxis

Lydia, blue and green never clash in nature. My bedroom is a mixture of pale blue and different shades of green. It's very restful.

However, I'm a bit concerned that you are choosing a wall colour and then will go on to choosing flooring.
Have you thought about a mood board?

That is, find floorings you like, find wall colours you like, and mix and match them with the soft furnishings you want to keep, and see what all goes best together.
Otherwise, you could settled on a wall colour, and then find a flooring you really like, but the wall colour doesn't really suit.

An alternative is to go with one thing you really like, e.g. a painting that will be prominent in the room, and pick colours out from that.
I did that with a William Morris wallpaper that I chose for my hall...... I picked out colours from it for each of the rooms that led off the hall/landing, so that when all the doors are open, all the colours match/tone in.

As for the lack of partner in the decision making, well, yes that can be a pain, but on the other hand, it also means there are no arguments!

Do you have a friend with a good eye for colour who could give you a second opinion?

LydiaJ

SingleSue wrote: »

I still struggle too, right now I am lamenting the fact I am single and solely responsible for getting offspring home from uni with all their clobber.

James solved his run for me, him and his new housemates hired a van and moved all his stuff to his new house today but getting Josh home in this coming week and then both him and Joe to uni in September is giving me a headache.

Sending hugs, Sue. It must be particularly hard with your disability on top of being single. I'd help with the driving if I was anywhere near the right part of the country for you.


Meanwhile, I have decided overnight that I don't want to finalise my paint colour, get it all over the walls, and then try to find a carpet to go with it. I'd rather pick a carpet while the walls are still a shortlist of options, and try to get a really good wall/carpet combo that way. My lovely next door neighbours told me a while ago that their carpets were done by somebody who's the husband of a dog-walking friend of mine. I know him a bit too because his company sponsors a charity at whose annual event I often see him. I feel I could ask him for advice about what kind of carpet to put in what room - for wear and stain resistance and so on - without getting ripped off. So I think I'll leave the patches as patches while I make contact with the friend's husband and get his input.

Any NP who have advice about choosing carpet, please post...

Thanks.

Jazee

Morning all. Loving the new thread, thank you and the intro is great. I am originally from inner Herts but now outer Herts.

Glad that mushrooms have been mentioned. I nearly bought some reduced yesterday but decided against as I wouldn't have used them all in time.

Odd socks - if you're looking for an odd sock here, then check the dog kennel.

Decorating - all cream walls here, colour comes from fabrics and flooring. Easy to keep going over where the dogs rub up against the walls.

Have a great day everyone. I shall be nosying around other people's gardens in a local village.